Abstract:
Ammonia is one of the top-rated chemicals in relation to volume and a highly significant compound with a wide range of applications. Being a key component in the fertilizers industry, ammonia is used in the manufacturing of various organic and inorganic compounds. The annual worldwide production of ammonia is around 176 million tones and it is primarily produced by the conventional Haber-Bosch process.
The Haber-Bosch process employs the catalytic reaction between hydrogen gas and nitrogen gas to produce ammonia. The reaction takes place at very high operating conditions of 400500 ℃ and 150-250 bar. This equilibrium exothermic reaction is catalyzed by iron-based catalysts to help speed up the synthesis of ammonia. In addition to that, the process relies on fossil fuels such as natural gas to obtain hydrogen as a raw material.
However, the Haber-Bosch process also poses several drawbacks. One of the major concerns is the dependency of this process on non-renewable resources which are finite, raising a question about the sustainability of this method. In addition to that, the process is highly energy intensive as it operates at very aggressive conditions of temperature and pressure.
To address these issues, the objective is to come up with an alternative green method for ammonia synthesis. One such method is the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia operates at moderate conditions of temperature and pressure, making it less energy intensive. Moreover, the process also uses renewable sources to obtain raw materials such as water for hydrogen and air for nitrogen. Thus, the process also reduces environmental impact as compared to the Haber-Bosch process.
